Did you have fun tonight? I enjoyed watching some fireworks from a relatively quiet corner and have managed to get myself up pretty much as normal this morning. Looks like quite a lot of people have also been able to, though I guess many will have a later start today.

Just 1cm of fresh snow to report to you this morning but it is snowing again this morning so I expect more tomorrow. Some really great conditions to enjoy yesterday as well as some gate action. Now that almost all of the resort course areas are now open it won't be long before all of the gates join in the fun. Please keep an eye on the Avalance Report posted below.

The forecast remains good for continued snowfall in the coming week. Yey!

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Let's take a look at the snowfall numbers for December 2015 and the season as a whole so far.

In December 2015 I observed a total of 244cm of snowfall here at Hirafu base, which made for a total of 308cm so far since the start of the season. Last year I observed 519cm of snowfall in the month of December, so effectively there was over twice as much as this year (though there was a bit more this year in November than the previous season).

The Japan Meteorological Agency - who record numbers in Kutchan town (close by but a bit lower down than my position) - have the following numbers over the last three seasons. These numbers are as you might expect a little lower than what I observe up here.

It's worth noting again that higher up on the mountain there will be more snowfall than down here at base. It is often said that you can probably add about 50% extra on to what we get at base to get an idea of how much snow falls up there.

The number to beat for the month of January? I observed 257cm in the month of January 2015 and 461cm for January 2014.

Let's hope this January is a repeat of 2014!

I'll keep a track on all of these numbers as the season progresses...

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Resort specific news/notes at time of writing (subject to change during the day)

Gates 4, 5, 6 and 10 will open today. Looking at the snowfall transition, weather data, and morning observations, the general avalanche risk is low. Out of bounds riding in Niseko and anywhere else in Japan is yet to be officially recognized by the Hokkaido and federal government. All activities outside the resort boundaries must be done at one’s own risk, however the ski resorts and the local community is deploying various efforts in order to improve the safety of all resort users.

Search and rescue operations are still difficult to conduct due to lack of snow, which is one of the reason the opening of the peak gates is delayed, however, preparations is moving on and it shouldn’t be too long before we start opening all gates. We appreciate your patience.The slopes above 500m altitude has been moderately reset with the wind-drifts.